Cisco’s 2Q Profit Dips on Charges, Revenue Decline

Cisco Systems Inc. reported Wednesday that weaker revenue and special charges weighed down its second-quarter profitability.

The San Jose, Calif., company said after the market closed that it earned $1.43 billion, or 27 cents per share, for the quarter. That’s down from $3.14 billion, or 59 cents per share, a year earlier.

Cisco’s results included a $655 million charge to address issues with memory components, and the prior quarter’s results include a $926 million tax benefit. After adjusting for those and other special items in both periods, the company earned 47 cents per share, compared with 51 cents per share last year.

The company, which sells routers, switches, software and services, said its revenue fell nearly 8 percent, to $11.16 billion from $12.1 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet had anticipated earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $11.04 billion.

Cisco on Tuesday also raised its dividend 12 percent, to 19 cents per share, up from 17 cents. The new dividend will be paid on April 23 to shareholders of record as of April 3.

Shares of Cisco closed regular trading at $22.85, up roughly 9 percent from this time last year.